European countries-urges Israel to withdraw its E1 settlement project plans

Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France assessed Israel’s decision to issue a tender for the construction of homes for Jewish settlers in the E1 zone near Jerusalem as unacceptable and urged the Israeli government to immediately withdraw these plans and halt the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, the countries’ leaders said in a joint statement.

"The Israeli government’s decision to publish construction tenders for the E1 settlement project is unacceptable. The international community has long opposed this settlement expansion, and has voiced their grave concerns privately and publicly," the statement said.

According to it, a settlement in the E1 zone would undermine the prospects for settling the conflict on the basis of "the two-state solution."

"International law is clear that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal," the document noted. According to it, this decision "is even more concerning" given "grave instability in the West Bank."

"We urge the government of Israel to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Not only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel’s international standing," the European leaders stated.